The Kalil Boys Take on Europe

What I didn´t know coming to study abroad in Granada was the importance of Holy Week in Spain. I knew Spain was very Catholic or as the Spanish say "Spain nationality consists of two parts: Spain is a Catholic country and many Spaniards are catholic". Little did I know how extravagant Holy Week or in Spanish "Semana Santa" festivities were.

The coolest part was getting to see it with my family! My spring break was the entire week of Semana Santa and my brother and Dad made it out to Spain! We spent a few days in Granada then went to the beach town of Torremolinos to relax and then did a day in Malaga. When they got here we were surrounded by the processions of Semana Santa. These processions are held for the entire week an they are out on by different brotherhoods that citizens belong to. Each brotherhood has a procession. And here comes the crazy part: They carry floats, and not just any floats. They are massive floats holding on too the statues of the Virgin Mary and Jesus for. The Cathedral and churches themselves. The even crazier part is there is a group of people who carry them, the WHOLE thing.

In Guatemala these processions are also big and people balance the weight of the giant float on their shoulders. Not in Spain though, they have a specific head dress-wrap that allows them to balance the weight on the back of their heads. Yeah, ow. It's pretty impressive and you could even see people blessing themselves and touched the float it was an amazing tradition to see! I would have felt like I missed out if I did not get to see that while studying here. Amidst all that the Kalil boys got pretty cultured as we saw the Alhambra, hiked and got all the food essentials (gelato, pastries, fruit, shwarma, etc.).

 

An even cooler part to the week was that the boys got to come for my birthday! Having your birthday in Spain with your family isn´t too shabby! After the hustle and bustle of Granada (which during Semana Santa looks like a Disney theme park on a Saturday) we headed to Torremolinos where the beach and weather was perfect. We got to explore the harbor and even went to the local Battery Park to ride around in a row boat in a pond they had. We weren't tourists or anything! Getting to see Malaga also was great because I have so far really only seen the airport. The cathedral was unreal and even the Semana Santa in Malaga had it's own Wifi (in Spanish pronounced "weefee" way cuter!). That's when you know Holy Week is serious.

It was awesome getting to show the Kalil boys Granada and what has become my home in the past 2 moths. This past week has been some of my favorite memories here so far and I can't wait for more to come. Speaking of which guess who heads to Africa this weekend, this girl!

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